Andromeda Rising
by Gamma Orionis
Summary: Andromeda Black chooses love over family loyalty. Andromeda, Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Sirius.
1. Prologue

Author's notes: There will eventually be three chapters as well as a prologue and epilogue to this story. The young Black sisters are my all-time favourite characters to write for, so I'm taking a break from my other writing projects to do this. Enjoy, and please review.

)O(

The window creaked a little when Andromeda opened it. She froze, and glanced at Narcissa, who was asleep in one of the beds. The two sisters shared a room, and, while it was easier to sneak out now that Bellatrix was married and shared a room with Rodolphus, it was still nerve-wracking.

Narcissa, fortunately, just rolled over and snuffled.

Andromeda opened the window the rest of the way, and stepped out onto the sill, grasping the top of the window frame for balance and pushed it back shut. Then she dropped to the ground.

"Ted?" she whispered, straightening and glancing around. Her boyfriend, who had been hovering on the street waiting for her smiled gently.

She hurried over and wrapped her arms around him, pressed her lips to his.

"Andromeda," he responded, pulling back. "I've got a question to ask you."

"What?"

"Er…" he glanced at the Black manor. It made him nervously, and rightly so. It made Andromeda nervous too.

"Right," she nodded. "Let's get away from here."

Ted didn't need telling twice, and started immediately for the playground down the street. At night, it was silent and shielded by trees, making it the ideal spot for Andromeda and Ted to carry out their illicit romance.

The couple sat on a pair of swings. Andromeda kicked lightly to get hers moving.

"So, what did you want to ask?"

Ted looked very serious. This was unusual for the gentle, cheerful young man.

"Look, Dromeda," he said slowly, "This is very difficult…"

She dragged her feet in the gravel and looked at her boyfriend in horror. He was leaving her. That was the only explanation. Oh god, why?

"Your family could arrange a great marriage for you," he said.

_I don't want a great marriage! I want you!_

"And I know I'm only a Mudblood–"

"Don't call yourself that." _Please don't! You're more worthy than any Pureblood!_

"So… my hopes aren't high when I say…" he stood up and walked around to Andromeda's front, pulling a box out of his pocket, "Andromeda, I love you, will you marry me?"

_He isn't leaving! He wants to marry me!_

"Yes," she said immediately.

"Really? But… your family–"

"Doesn't matter," Andromeda interrupted. "They don't matter. I love you."

"What about your sisters?"

"If they really love me, they won't mind. And if they don't, then it won't matter."

He took her hand and slid a gold band onto her finger. Andromeda felt tears prickling her eyes, and wrapped Ted in a tight embrace.

"I love you," she repeated.

"I love _you_," he said.

When Andromeda returned to her bedroom that night, she was the closest thing to happy she had been in a long time.


	2. Andromeda

Andromeda was the first one home.

She had engineered it that way, leaving work early so that she could leave a note for her sisters.

The Black Manor was empty, although Andromeda suspected that the house-elf was skulking around somewhere. She hurried up to the bedroom she shared with Narcissa. The note she had composed was laid on her pillow, and the photograph of her and her sisters that was the only thing she wanted to take with her was laid in her purse. Picture-Bellatrix glared up mutinously as she was tucked into Andromeda's bag.

Andromeda had written the letter at work, when she was supposed to be going over paperwork. It was addressed _To Narcissa and Bellatrix_, instead of, as she had originally planned, _To my sisters_. And she had signed it simply _Andromeda_. Not _sister_, not _Andromeda Black_. Just _Andromeda_.

She sank onto her bed, sitting on it for what she knew would be the last time. It suddenly hit her how very, very final this choice was. After this, there was no going back. Never again would Andromeda comfort a crying Narcissa. Never again would she stand at a locked door and talk Bellatrix down from one of her rages. When her sisters had children, she would not be there to hold their hands and coax them through childbirth. She would not help them choose names, and she would not be a godmother. When she, Andromeda, had children, her sisters would not be there to help her. No Bellatrix to slap away unhelpful healers, no Narcissa to tell her it would all be over soon. No one to argue over who had seen the baby first, no one to argue over who should be the godmother. Andromeda wouldn't even have her sisters for bridesmaids at her wedding.

For a moment she was tempted to throw the letter into the fire, to go tell Ted that she was sorry, she couldn't marry him. The sisters had sworn that they would never let men drive them apart, and yet here was she, Andromeda, ready to abandon Bellatrix and Narcissa on the promises of a man.

_A Mudblood_, a nasty voice in her head added. The voice sounded a little too much like Bellatrix for Andromeda's liking.

But men were already splitting the sisters apart. They always had. Bellatrix, from the time she was thirteen, had entertained a seemingly endless list of boyfriends, lovers, admirers and one-night stands. _Hope Rodolphus didn't expect a virgin on his wedding night_. Narcissa had drifted from one socially acceptable, asexual romance to the next, without much interest or commitment. Andromeda, on the other had, had never had a boyfriend other than Ted. She had been a wallflower at parties, sitting by the edge of the room with a book until one of her sisters took pity and joined her until the next suitor asked them to dance. Then they had gone. They had left her.

Even though Bellatrix and Rodolphus still lived in the Black Manor, Narcissa and Andromeda scarcely saw their eldest sister. When she wasn't closeted in her bedroom doing God-only-knows-what with Rodolphus she was out doing it with the Dark Lord. And Narcissa seemed to spend all her time out at parties, flirting with wealthy Purebloods. She had her eye set on Lucius Malfoy.

_Well, I wish her luck_, Andromeda thought bitterly. _Love is Hell, sister. Better get married to someone with money rather than fall in love with the _wrong damn person.

So, with renewed determination, Andromeda stood up, laid her letter on the pillow, and left.

She wondered if anyone would notice she was gone.

She wondered if anyone would notice it was her birthday.


	3. Bellatrix

Bellatrix was the second one home.

"Andi?" she called, kicking the door shut behind her. "Cissy? Rodolphus? Kreacher?"

Of the four she had called, only Kreacher, the house-elf appeared, bowing so low his long nose scraped the floor.

"Mistress Bella called?" he said.

"Yes, yes," Bellatrix said impatiently. "Am I the first one home?"

"Miss Andromeda did come home, Mistress," Kreacher said carefully.

Bellatrix lost patience, and dismissed the elf with a wave of her hand. She hurried up the stairs to the bedroom that Andromeda and Narcissa shared, Andi's birthday present hidden behind her back. She had scoured the shops on Diagon and Nocturn Alley for the perfect gift for her sister, and now that she had found it, was eager to see her sister's reaction.

"Andi?" Bellatrix called again, taking the last few steps two at a time. "Where are you, Andi? I've got your present!"

All was silent.

_She must be asleep,_ Bellatrix thought. _Come to that, it would explain why she's home already. She usually stays at work longer than this. She must not be feeling well_.

Bellatrix tapped at her sister's door. "Andi, wake up. It's me."

When there was no response, she pushed the door open.

"Andi?"

No one was there.

Bellatrix went in, and sat on her sister's bed to wait for her.

_She must be in the library or some such_, Bellatrix thought.

She glanced around idly at the room her two younger sisters shared. She had shared it too, until she had married Rodolphus. The couple could have moved out, but Bellatrix saw no reason to leave behind the luxury of Black manor, and Rodolphus agreed, so they simply shared a bedroom on the other side of the house.

Bellatrix leaned back on her sister's pillow, and then sat up with a gasp, hearing something crackle. The twisted' and saw that she had lain down on a letter. One addressed to Narcissa and Bellatrix, in Andi's writing.

What?

Bellatrix's stomach twisted into a painful knot. This was wrong.

Hands shaking, she managed to get it open. One sheet of parchment, just a few sentences. But by the time Bellatrix had read the letter, those few sentences were bigger than her whole world.

She crushed the letter in her hand, shaking with anger. That Mudblood bastard! He had stolen Andromeda away from her! And Andi had let him! Didn't she realize that her life would be so much worse with the Mudblood than with her sisters? What was wrong with her?

Bellatrix grabbed the gift she had gotten for her sister. She tore the wrapping off, revealing a delicate circlet set with opals. For a second, Bellatrix thought of how pretty it would have looked set in Andi's chestnut ringlets.

But Bellatrix was kidding herself. Andi wouldn't have worn it. Bellatrix realized that now. Andi didn't wear jewellery, not really. She would have admired it, and said how pretty it was, set it on her table. But she wouldn't have worn it. _Oh, no, Bella, it'll look so much prettier on Cissy. Oh, no, Bella, you should wear it; it will go better with your dress. Oh, no, Bella, I'll get it tangled in my hair. Oh, no, Bella, it's so lovely, I don't deserve it._

She twisted the silver band with both her hands, and it snapped in two.

That was right. The blood traitor. She didn't deserve it.


	4. Narcissa

Narcissa was the third one home.

She had been out for tea with Lucius Malfoy, and was in a buoyantly good mood. He had told her that he was going to ask her parents for her hand in marriage, and she couldn't wait to ask her sisters what they thought about the situation.

She hurried up to the bedroom she shared with Andromeda. Hopefully, her sisters would already be home so she wouldn't have to wait to tell them about Lucius.

The door was ajar, and Bellatrix was sitting on Andi's bed.

"Bella!" Narcissa said brightly. "Is Andi home yet? I have news for you two, but I want to tell you both at once."

Bellatrix, who had been staring at her hands, looked up. She was shaking, her eyes wild, and gripping two pieces of metal and a sheet of parchment.

"Bella?"

Narcissa had seen her sister like this only a few times and it never boded well. The last time had been when their parents informed Bellatrix that she would be marrying Rodolphus, and over the next twenty-four hours, the Black manor had been set on fire, two muggles had turned up dead in the immediate vicinity, and an attempt had been made on Rodolphus's life. Bellatrix had a temper straight from Hell.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Narcissa whispered. _Where the Hell is Andi when you need her_? Andi was the only one who could calm Bella down when she got like this.

"Look at this," Bellatrix said, her voice very low and shaking. "_Look_ at this!"

She shoved the parchment into Narcissa's hands.

_Dear Bellatrix and Narcissa._

_There's no way to say this that will stop you from hating me, so I'm not even going to try._

_Ted Tonks has asked me to marry him. I've been seeing him for the last three years, and I love him. I am marrying him and there is no way for you to convince me not to._

_I won't ask you not to hate me, because I know you will. Just know that I don't hate you, and that I never will. But that isn't going to stop me from going._

_I love you, hard as that may be to believe._

_Andromeda_

_PS. Happy birthday to me. Did you remember?_

Narcissa stared at the paper.

"Oh God. It was her birthday?"

"Bloody Hell, Narcissa!" Bellatrix exploded. "_Do you realize what she's saying_?"

Narcissa stared blankly at her sister.

"The blood traitor slag's gone and married an effing Mudblood!" Bellatrix's voice cracked, and she slammed her hand down on Andromeda's dresser. "And all you can say is that you _forgot her effing birthday?_"

"She's not serious," Narcissa said, a nervous giggle burbling up in her throat. "She's playing a trick on us."

"She's taken the picture of us," Bellatrix whispered. "The portrait of the three of us. She took it. She wouldn't do that for a trick."

"She didn't." Narcissa shook her head wildly. "She hid it, I don't know–"

"God _damnit_, Cissy!" Bellatrix screamed. "Don't you think I've _looked_? It isn't bloody here, and Andromeda isn't either!"

Tears filled Narcissa's eyes.

"She can't have gone," she whispered. "Andi wouldn't–"

"Well, she did." Bellatrix stood up and started pacing.

"What are we going to tell our parents?" Narcissa whimpered.

"I don't know!" Bellatrix turned on her sister, bore down on her. "Did you know she was with this… this _Ted Tonks_?"

"No," Narcissa said in a tiny voice.

Bellatrix hit her sister as hard as she could across the face. "How could you not have known? _You share a bloody room with her!_ You're so bloody stupid, Narcissa! She might have had the Mudblood right here in your bedroom and you never would have known!"

Narcissa's lip quivered.

"I'm sorry, Bella," she whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."

Bellatrix softened. "Oh, no Cissy. It shouldn't have hit you. It's not your fault. It's Andromeda, and no one else."

She wrapped her arms around her little sister. Narcissa couldn't help stiffening. Bellatrix wasn't the hugging sort, and it unnerved Narcissa. Bellatrix withdrew with a hurt expression.

"Fine," she said. "You… go find Mother. You tell her."

Narcissa knew better than to protest. She clasped the letter to her chest and started unsteadily for the stairs.

_Andi, gone? It can't be…_

The shock had left Narcissa numb, incapable of thought or feeling.

"Cissy?"

Narcissa turned around to look at her sister. Bellatrix's eye makeup was smeared, giving her the look of two black eyes.

"I hate her."

Bellatrix looked more like she was trying to convince herself than Narcissa.

"Do you hate her?"

Narcissa hesitated.

"Yes," she lied, and headed downstairs.


	5. Epilogue

"I think Mother should do it," Narcissa said.

Andi's cat Allaire rubbed against Bellatrix's ankle, and she kicked it away impatiently. _She might have taken her damn cat with her_! Sirius, who had tearstains on his cheeks, rescued the tabby and clutched it to his chest.

Druella Black pressed her lips together in a tight line. Her husband, Cygnus, put his hand on his shoulder.

"Sirius, you are the heir," Druella said. "You do it."

"I don't want to!" Sirius protested. "Why doesn't Narcissa? _She_ forgot Andi's birthday."

"Shut up!" Narcissa yelled. She stood up and started for Sirius, as though she was going to hit hm. Bellatrix grabbed her arm and dragged her back down.

"Rodolphus had the least emotional connection to Andromeda," Cygnus said. His voice was utterly expressionless. "It would be easiest for him."

"What?" Rodolphus looked alarmed. "No, I–"

"I'll do it," Bellatrix said.

Everyone looked at her. Her expression was set.

"I found the letter," she said, voice steely. "I am the eldest. I'll do it."

"Bella, you don't have to," Narcissa whispered, taking her sister's hand.

"I want to."

Bellatrix stood up from the couch she had been sharing with her sister and her husband. Swept past her parents, and Sirius, who was still clutching Andi's cat. Pointed her wand at the tapestry.

Watched as Andromeda's name burned away.

Gone from the family tree.

Bellatrix lowered her wand, then turned and left the room.

"Is she okay?" Rodolphus asked, looking after his wife.

"Of course she isn't," Narcissa said. She stood up and followed her sister.

Sirius went after them. He had something to say to his cousins.

The two girls were locked in a tearful embrace. Sirius had never seen Bellatrix cry before, and the sight unnerved him.

"What is it?" Bellatrix asked nastily, seeing him watching them.

"She hated you," he said. "You know that, right? She hated you, so she left."

"How would you know?" Narcissa sniffed.

"She told me."

"She did not!" Bellatrix yelled. She pushed him, and he stumbled back against the wall. "She never told you anything! You barely even talked to her!"

"She did! She told me about Ted Tonks ages and ages ago!"

"You're lying!" Bellatrix shouted. She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and dragged him to the top of the stairs. "You're lying!"

"Bella, don't!" Narcissa screamed.

Sirius began to laugh. "You can push me down the stairs if you want, Bella. It won't change anything. She told me, but she didn't tell you. She loved me, and she hated you! And who could blame her?"

"You know nothing about how she loved me!" Bellatrix snarled. "She–"

"Bellatrix!" Narcissa grabbed the back of her sister's dress and tried to pull her back from the stairs.

Bellatrix shoved.

Sirius yelled and stumbled, losing his footing on the stairs. Bellatrix watched in horror as her cousin went tumbling.

"Oh!" Narcissa clapped a hand over her mouth. Bellatrix flew down the stairs and Narcissa followed. Sirius lay motionless at the base.

"Sirius, are you okay?" Bellatrix turned him gently onto his back. "Oh God, I didn't mean to…"

Sirius slowly opened his eyes. Bellatrix's horrified face came into focus.

"Oh my God, Sirius, please tell me you're okay," she whispered.

"I'm fine," he said.

"I'm so, so sorry. Please forgive me, Sirius."

"Of course I forgive you," he muttered, putting a hand to his head. "I know you didn't mean to."

She had meant to with all her heart. He knew that perfectly well. But he couldn't stand to lose two cousins in one day.

)O(

_Fin_


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